Burma : edible oilseeds processing and distribution project

Under the project, ACDI provided TA to 15 selected oil mills, 4 national industrial producer workshops, and staff of the Ministry of Cooperatives. As a result of three major accomplishments and four associated achievements, the project has made a strong beginning toward upgrading the Burmese edible oil industry. This was done primarily by building on existing local expertise supplemented by on-the-job training, and by using materials (often available locally) and processes appropriate to the Burmese situation. It cannot be emphasized too strongly that the solutions found to date are a result of the high degree of enthusiasm and cooperation shown by workshop and mill technical staffs. Though there are many project accomplishments, three in particular must be considered major by any standard. In a relatively short period (between 2/87, when the project workplan was implemented, and 4/88, after which political unrest made project work practically impossible), three mechanical breakthroughs were made which resulted in a considerable increase in oil and cake production and in cost savings in mill operation. Despite constraints posed by the complete absence of project commodities (raw materials, equipment, parts) in Burma at the time of team arrival and the lack of certain local materials and machinery, the project and Burmese technical staff produced: (1) new and longer-wearing expeller worm and collar parts from chill cast iron alloy; (2) a re-designed expeller shaft arrangement more suitable to Burmese oil pressing conditions; and (3) a re-designed and longer-wearing expeller cage bar. Four associated achievements which contributed to the production of these three major ones were the developing of the "master ingot" used in the process of making the iron alloy, the finding of a temporary solution to the expeller shaft problem of worn gears and bearings, the incorporation of mass production and dimension quality control practices into the machine part production process, and the beginning of the process of semi-annual seminars enabling oil mill managers to share their experiences in mill operation. These achievements directly tackled the long-standing problems of poorly wearing parts and inadequate technical knowledge of how to make, maintain, and repair parts in order to assure proper mill operation. As a spinoff, oil production was increased and mill operation costs reduced. The project, planned as a 5-year effort, was terminated (at least for the time being) in 9/88, when the TA team had to be evacuated due to the political situation. (Author abstract, modified)